True Life: I ate a ball of lard

The gracious IIHF (international ice hockey federation) decided to take all the referees and coaches and staff out to a nice banquet dinner. We all dressed up and got shuttled to this very upscale restaurant. Before dinner we were each served two shots of liquor. One clear, one dark brown. Some guy stood up and spoke Russian which was then translated into Hungarian and then into English thanking us for a great tournament, welcome to Hungary etc. I'm sure nothing was lost in the dual translation. The drink was, among other things, very strong. I think they were saying it's 60% alcohol. I thought I was going to throw up at the table. I couldn't wait for the food to come out so I would stop salivating from the drink and get a good taste in my mouth.

In comes the appetizer: goose liver. I like chopped liver, but this was huge hunks of liver. As if I had taken a goose in anatomy class, cut out the liver in its entirety and served it on a plate. But hey, that's okay. I can try new things. So I survey my plate: goose liver, cucumber, onion, tomato and yellow balls with paprika sprinkled on top. Logically, I think - butter. I pick up a piece of toast and take one of the balls and spread it on the bread, add a little goose liver, lots of cucumber onion and tomato. Truth be told, it wasn't all that bad. But I only had the one bite. I was starving so I just ate the toast with the little butter balls until one of the Slovakian girls ate the ball thinking it was a potato. Turns out we were both wrong - it's lard. So, yeah...i ate two balls of lard before dinner.
The rest of the dinner was great. Meat, potatoes, vegetables, ice cream for dessert. More toasts for different things, but this time I didn't drink the alcohol. I stuck with Fanta.

A woman I met the other day brought us home-made palacinta (crepes) that were delicious. But, honestly, I have to say, Grandma's are better. I like the way Grandma's chocolate isn't quite melted all the way and it's a little bit crunchy. (someone please call her and tell her the good news).

In musical news...today at breakfast I heard En Vogue, followed by Tegan and Sara, then Sting. They pride themselves on their eclectic musical taste.

Back to the rink I go. I'm having a great time and miss everyone at home!